The AMD 890FX is the current high-end chipset for AMD processors and the ASRock 890FX Deluxe4 is a motherboard based on this new chipset, bringing nice features like three PCI Express x16 slots, eight SATA-600 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, solid capacitors, core unlocking utility, and more.

This motherboard is practically identical to the 890FX Deluxe3 that we’ve already written about. The main differences between the two are the USB 3.0 configuration, the number of USB 2.0 ports, and the audio codec.

While the Deluxe3 has all four USB 3.0 ports soldered on the motherboard rear panel, on the new Deluxe4 two of them are available through a 3.5” external adapter for you to put them on the front panel of your case. Because of this change, the manufacturer could add two USB 2.0 ports on the rear panel of the new Deluxe4 motherboard, making it to have 10 USB 2.0 ports instead of eight like on the Deluxe3.

The Deluxe3 uses a VIA VT2020 audio codec, whereas on the Deluxe4 this component was replaced by a Realtek ALC892. Curiously, both components aren’t listed at their manufacturer’s website, so we can’t compare them and tell which one is better.

In Figure 1, you have an overall look at ASRock 890FX Deluxe4. It uses three passive heatsinks, one on top of the voltage regulator transistors, one on top of the north bridge chip, and one on top of the south bridge chip. The first two are connected using a 6 mm heatpipe, and the motherboard comes with a 40 mm fan for you to install on the voltage regulator heatsink, if you want to add extra cooling on this piece.

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Figure 1: ASRock 890FX Deluxe4 motherboard